colony · West Africa

Brandenburger Gold Coast

1682 CE – 1721 CE · capital Gross Friedrichsburg

Brandenburg-Prussia's short-lived colony on the Gold Coast, centred on the fort of Gross Friedrichsburg near Cape Three Points.

Origins

The Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg chartered the Brandenburg African Company in 1682, hoping to share in the Atlantic trade. An expedition under Otto Friedrich von der Groeben reached the Ahanta coast and in 1683 founded Gross Friedrichsburg at Pokesu (Princes Town), after treaties with local chiefs. Smaller posts followed at Takrama and at Accada, where Fort Dorothea was built.

Rule and society

The colony traded guns and cloth for gold, ivory and slaves, many of them shipped to the Danish island of St Thomas in the Caribbean. Its garrisons were tiny and depended on alliances with Ahanta leaders. The company was always short of capital and ships, and Dutch rivals from the Dutch Gold Coast obstructed its trade.

Decline and legacy

King Frederick William I of Prussia, uninterested in overseas ventures, sold the posts to the Dutch in 1717. The Ahanta merchant Jan Conny held Gross Friedrichsburg against them until 1724. The fort, renamed Fort Hollandia, survives as a ruin at Princes Town.

Lineage

Brandenburger Gold CoastDutch Gold Coast 1598 CE – 1872 CE

Connections (2)

More states of West Africa →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Brandenburger Gold Coast. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/brandenburger-gold-coast
MLA
“Brandenburger Gold Coast.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/brandenburger-gold-coast. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Brandenburger Gold Coast.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/brandenburger-gold-coast.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Brandenburger Gold Coast’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/brandenburger-gold-coast (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻